This is THE BEST chicken thigh marinade because it has pureed fresh ingredients for maximum flavor it also has salt and soy sauce so it acts as a brine giving you extra-delicious and extra-juicy chicken.
Are you ready for the best chicken thighs ever? It all starts with this chicken thigh marinade that’s bursting with amazing flavor. Lemon juice, honey, garlic, herbs, and more combine in this mixture that gives you the benefits of both brining and marinating. You’re going to seriously love this recipe!
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Why Use A Marinade?
A marinade is a liquid that you soak foods in before cooking. They add flavor and can make meats more tender. While a brine does similar things with a salt solution, a marinade uses acidic ingredients like vinegar or uses enzymes found in foods such as citrus juice.
The marinade recipe below is the best of both worlds, working as a combo brine and marinade! It has acidity to act like a marinade, but it also has a small amount of salty soy sauce plus kosher salt to also really tenderize the meat like a brine does. The salt also helps to bring flavor right into the meat, whereas a marinade usually only penetrates a short way in.
Marinade Ingredients
This marinade takes inspiration from my Fajita Marinade Recipe, where I puree the ingredients together. That really extracts all of the flavor elements into the liquid so that they can more easily flavor the meat inside and out. Just blend it up and you’re ready to marinate!
We’re using lemon juice and zest for acidity and honey for some sweetness (if you’re grilling, like with my Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs, it also helps get you really nice grill marks). We get great savory flavor from fresh onion, garlic, thyme, pepper, and smoked paprika. There’s soy sauce and salt to help tenderize, because remember, it’s acting as our brine as well. We’ll also want olive oil and some water to help it all blend together.
If you don’t want to puree your marinade: Your best bet is to use the water, honey, olive oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika along with 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves and a tablespoon each of garlic powder and onion powder. Without blending, the fresh ingredients aren’t able to penetrate as well, so we replace them with the dry versions. Mix well and then marinate as instructed.
For either version, you can replace the honey with white or brown sugar, but make sure it dissolves completely in the mixture before you add the chicken.
How Long To Marinate Chicken Thighs
I tested this marinade with a variety of times, and the sweet spot is to marinate your chicken thighs for 1 and 1/2 hours in the fridge before cooking. This gives you tender and flavorful chicken thighs that are ready to grill or bake.
If you’re planning to marinate chicken for longer than 2 hours, omit the salt from the recipe. Otherwise, the chicken will end up too salty. Instead, season lightly with salt before cooking.
How To Cook Marinated Chicken Thighs
After the thighs have marinated, pat them to remove the excess moisture and discard the marinade. Then, you can cook them any way you like! Here’s a few of my favorite methods.
- Crispy Pan Fried Chicken Thighs
- Easy Baked Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot Chicken Thigh Recipe
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
More Great Marinade Recipes
If you love this chicken marinade, you’ll want to try these other great recipes too.
Podcast Episode: Marinating Chicken Thighs
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Chicken Thigh Marinade Recipe
The best chicken thigh marinade gets blended for maximum flavor and gives you the benefits of a brine too for incredibly juicy chicken.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Marinate: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 lemon*
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 large sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. salt**
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 6 chicken thighs (about 1 and 1/2 lbs.)
Instructions
- Zest and juice the lemon. Add the juice and zest to a blender or food processor along with the water, honey, onion, garlic, thyme, olive oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Puree the ingredients until well-blended.
- Put the chicken thighs into a container or zip-top bag. Add the contents of the blender. If the chicken is not fully submerged, use a different container.
- Refrigerate chicken thighs in marinade for 1.5 hours.
- Remove chicken thighs from marinade and pat dry. Discard marinade. Cook chicken thighs in any way you’d like, such as in the air fryer, baked, or grilled.
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Notes
*Or use 3 tablespoons lemon juice and skip the zest mentioned in the instructions.
**If planning to marinate chicken for longer than 2 hours, omit the salt from the recipe. Otherwise, the chicken will end up too salty. Then you would season lightly with salt before cooking.